Disney

Rarible

Pudgy Penguins

There's a cartoon penguin sitting in the toy aisle of 2,000 Walmart stores, and it has one of the strangest origin stories in retail.
<a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/walmarts-only-crypto-toy-winds-down-ambitious-game" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Pudgy Penguins</a> started life in 2021 not as a toy, but as an NFT (non-fungible token) collection — digital artworks of chubby penguins that people bought and sold with cryptocurrency.
Quick refresher on what that means. An NFT is a digital certificate of ownership. Anyone can download a picture of a penguin; the NFT is the record proving you own the original, stored on a blockchain — a shared digital ledger that can't be altered or deleted.
The NFT market peaked in 2021 and crashed soon after. Most penguin, ape and pixel-art projects died with the hype. Pudgy Penguins did something no one expected: it waddled out of crypto and into real stores.
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 Exclusive: Rarible co-founder says NFT bubble is over, names two major narratives (5:02)
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<h2 id="how-a-crypto-penguin-ended-up-at-walmart">How a crypto penguin ended up at Walmart</h2>
The company turned its cartoon characters into a toy brand.&nbsp;
In September 2023, it <a href="https://x.com/pudgypenguins/status/1706687055781110013" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">partnered with</a><a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/more-americans-admit-to-shoplifting-from-walmart-as-inflation-climbs" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Walmart</a> to launch Pudgy Toys — plushies, figurines, games and collectibles — in 2,000 U.S. stores and on Walmart's website.
<figure><a href="https://www.walmart.com/browse/pudgy-penguins/YnJhbmQ6UHVkZ3kgUGVuZ3VpbnMie" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><img src="https://www.thestreet.com/.image/c_fit%2Ch_675%2Cw_1200/MjI2NzQ5Njc0MDcyMDU3NzQy/screenshot-2026-10-07-223921.png" height="675" width="504"></a>
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 Pudgy Penguins soft toys on Walmart website
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The plushies became a hit with shoppers who had no idea the penguin ever lived on a blockchain, and last month the company <a href="https://x.com/pudgypenguins/status/2103507900262150207" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">announced</a> its toys will feature in Walmart's holiday shopping season catalog.
While the toys thrived, though, the company was pouring money into a second, far more ambitious project.
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<h2 id="pudgy-penguins-parent-to-shut-down-blockchain-project">Pudgy Penguins parent to shut down blockchain project&nbsp;</h2>
In January 2025, Pudgy Penguins' parent company, Igloo Inc., launched its own blockchain, called Abstract.&nbsp;
The idea is to turn the penguin's millions of fans into crypto users, giving them a network of their own for games, apps and digital collectibles.
On Oct. 6, Igloo CEO Luca Netz <a href="https://x.com/LucaNetz/status/2107555395640463480" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">announced</a> it's shutting down.
Igloo funded Abstract for 18 months and lost tens of millions of dollars building products and signing up brands, he said — but the project never found enough people who actually needed it.&nbsp;
The company could have raised money by launching its own crypto token, he added, but chose not to, because there was no real demand for the product.
<blockquote>
 "The entire team at Abstract has worked tirelessly with a tremendous amount of passion to make the consumer crypto vision come true. I cannot fault a single one of them for this outcome."
</blockquote>
Abstract processed over 325 million transactions, generated $40 million in revenue, and attracted brands like Red Bull Racing and Disney for digital experiences that brought in over 400,000 users. But the team <a href="https://x.com/AbstractChain/status/2107554632675340420" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">said</a> thin activity, slow interest from big institutions and limited budget left no path forward.
<figure><a href="https://x.com/AbstractChain/status/2107554632675340420" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a>
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 Abstract's journey since its launch in January 2025
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Abstract shuts down on Dec. 15, and users holding funds on it need to move their assets off the chain before then, through the project's <a href="https://migrate.abs.xyz/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Migration Hub</a> or its <a href="https://native-bridge.abs.xyz/bridge" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">native bridge</a>.
Any funds not moved by the deadline will become inaccessible.
<a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/billionaire-ray-dalio-reveals-deadline-for-u-s-debt-crisis" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Related: Billionaire Ray Dalio reveals deadline for U.S. debt crisis</a>

Pudgy Penguins maker shuts down its next big bet within 18 months

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